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Producers of more than 4,000,000 bushels of apples a year, North Carolina has rightfully earned the moniker of “apple state”. With so many u-pick-em orchards and festivals near Lakeside Cottage at the Point, it is hard not to get caught up in all the local excitement. An annual autumn tradition was born several years ago when some girlfriends and I decided to spend a bright Fall day exploring nearby Hendersonville. We stumbled upon the North Carolina Apple Festival. We indulged in all kinds of apple goodies – caramel apples, funnel cakes, slices of apple pie, apple crisp washed down with, what else but, apple cider! And each year as September slips by, I long to spend a day in a nearby orchard picking apples to make a favorite apple dessert or savory apple chutney. Hendersonville, North Carolina is 49 miles west of Cashiers, North Carolina on Highway 64.

The scenic mountain village of Cashiers, North Carolina sits at 3,500 feet in the southwest corner of the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains. This is where you’ll find Lakeside Cottage at the Point. Here, you are truly away from it all – the city, the traffic, the noise. And yet, when you are at Lake Glenville and in Cashiers you will discover scenic vistas, colorful wildflowers, rippling waterfalls, beautiful golf courses, challenging hiking trails, mountain streams, eclectic shops, stunning sunsets and starry, starry night skies.

In Cashiers there are no man-made attractions – no no huge billboards – no shopping malls or big box stores – no rush hour traffic. The village is populated with eclectic and interesting one-of-a-kind shops and cafes. A local coffee shop, village flower vendor and open-air produce market occupy three corners of the town “square”. A Village Green is on the fourth corner of the square. This scenic park hosts special events and entertainments. Just beyond the Green is a children’s park, Village Play, that families love.

Fall has arrived at Lakeside Cottage in Western North Carolina’s High Country where autumn color isn’t limited to nature’s brilliant display of red, oranges and golds – you will also find it on your plate, in your glass and in the sights, sounds and smells of dozens of seasonal festivals, fairs and events. For reservations at the Cottage call 904-321-2210.

How long has it been since you paddled a canoe? Fished in a clear mountain stream? Watched stars shoot across the night sky? At Lakeside Cottage at the Point on Lake Glenville in Cashiers, North Carolina, these are just some of the adventures that you and your family can share.

Beat the August heat! Believe it our not, there is a place you can cool off during the long, “dog days” of August. A place where the average low temperature is 56° and 76° is the average high. Humidity there rarely exceeds 63% during the long and sunny days.

Celebrating 30 years of chamber music in the mountains, the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival presents 27 concerts featuring 40 internationally acclaimed musicians in a variety of indoor and outdoor mountain venues. Friday and Sunday concerts are in Highlands (25-30 minute drive from the Lakeside Cottage). Saturday and Monday concerts are in Cashiers (15-20 minute drive from the Lakeside Cottage).

More than just a hike, this easy two-mile trek is a journey back to a time when vast forests were untouched by human hands. Located in the largest tract of virgin hardwoods east of the Mississippi, it inspired soldier-poet Joyce Kilmer to pen “Trees” – “I think I shall never see, A poem as lovely as a tree…”

The trail features two loops – the 1.25 -mile lower loop and the .75-mile upper loop, which showcases the largest trees in the forest. Both loops converge at the Jouyce Kilmer Memorial. Allow 1-2 hours for the hike at a casual pace. For more aggressive hikers, it should take an hour. This hike is highly recommended for novices or families with young children. Weekdays are a good choice as weekends can be crowded.

Joyce Kilmer National Recreation Trail outside of Robbvinsville, NC is about a 2-hour drive from Lakeside Cottage at the Point. So pack a picnic lunch and lots of cold drinks and find a picnic spot along the way!

No need to travel to the tropics to fly through a rain forest. The first Canopy Tour in the North Carolina Smokies is now as close as the Nantahala Gorge. The three-hour “glide and slide” experience that simulates flying is fueled by gravity and a gradual elevation change. More than just a zip-line ride (as if that weren’t enough), it takes you through multiple ecosystems, over hemlocks and into hardwood treetops. The route takes you above the forest floor which is blanketed with mountain laurel, dogwood, fern, rhododendron, flame azalea, wild magnolia and many other native plants. Reservations are through Nanatahala Gorge Canopy Tours.

Complete your “tropical travel” day when you return to Lakeside Cottage at the Point. with a healthy and delicious dinner featuring Tropical Grilled Sea Bass. (Fresh seafood and produce is available daily from the Produce Stand at the crossroads in Cashiers.

The Brevard Music Center celebrates its 75th music festival season this year with 18 orchestra programs, 5 opera productions and dozens of chamber music and solo recitals in a casual, accessible setting. The long list of globally recognized musical guests range from cellist to Yo-Yo Ma to Swiss conductor Matthias Bamert to renowned American Songbook singer Michael Feinstein.

This year’s six-week festival schedule (June 4 – August 7), is perhaps the Center’s most ambitious yet, including Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, requiring a woman’s chorus, children’s chorus and a vast array of wind, percussion and brass instruments all under the direction of Keith Lockhart who is also conductor of the Boston Pops and back for his fourth season as artistic director of the BMC.

Among the season’s favorite returning programs is the Patriotic Pops concert July 3, and for a fundraiser on August 1, the schedule reaches into American popular song with celebrated singer Michael Feinstein performing “The Sinatra Project”.

Performances are held on the campus of Brevard College in a venue that combines concert hall acoustics with alfresco features such as lawn seating. It’s very informal, very casual. Nobody dresses up except for the musicians as you listen to music in fresh mountain air and under the stars. www.brevardmusic.org. 888-384-8682.

The drive to Brevard from Lakeside Cottage winds east along Route 64 past waterfalls, golf courses and Lake Toxaway. Plan to stop along the way fora pre-concert dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Brown Trout Mountain Grille, situated in an old train depot. Call ahead for reservations. 828-877-3474.